<p>I wholeheartedly agree w/Susan4 about visitors coming INTO New Haven. BDL is very convenient. If you go to the major airlines websites that serve that airport and play around with the package deals (flight & car rental) sometimes great deals can be had. The last time I was at Yale (6 days 5 nights) I was able to combine my car and flight. The tab for the car was $130 for the six days! Can't beat that!</p>
<p>CT Limo is a horribly poorly run operation. They regularly do not bring enough buses/vans to take all the people back from the airport who have reservations. When I arrived at Bradley this fall, the 9:00 PM CT Limo for which I had a reservation refused to take me because it was full, and they told me I would have to wait until midnight. I ended up splitting a cap 3-ways with the two other people they had stranded (one of whom had also not been able to get on the 7:00 PM shuttle for which he had a reservation). Once, when my dad was visiting me, they didn't show up to pick him up from the airport at all. Avoid using CT Limo if at all possible.</p>
<p>Great article in the YDN about President Levin's leadership at the 15-year mark. Most impressive.
Yale</a> Daily News - Levin at 15 years: Yale's greatest? - Comments</p>
<p>Parents of the Class of 2012 -- 2blue, riverrunner, susan4, and anyone else I'm missing -- I hope your kids are all thriving.</p>
<p>My 2012 S is in fact thriving, wjb, and describes Yale as almost perfect. We look forward to Parents Weekend.</p>
<p>Another way to get to/from JFK and LGA is to take a bus to/from Grand Central combined with Metro North. Buses run every 20-30 minutes and I think cost $15 one way with some kind of rd-trip discount. Might be easier for those who are inexperienced with navigating the subway/Air Train. Plus it is somewhat cheaper than CT Limo based on what others have written. I have not used this bus service so cannot speak to its reliability etc but have to assume it works well with traffic in NY being the unknown - so leave plenty of time of course. Try the link below. </p>
<p>The</a> Most Departures To Manhattan - New York Airport Service.</p>
<p>And Amtrak is a great way to get back and forth from Newark airport -- assuming the trains are on time. There are not trains every hour but there are several each day.</p>
<p>Thanks wjb,
D loves Yale. First round of papers and tests was an eye-opener, but she survived. Two of her classes have 10 students each and are taught by "amazing" professors. She's taking advantage of as much of the cultural/political/sporting events as she can squeeze in. It is everything she imagined and more, from what I can tell.</p>
<p>D loves Yale as well! According to D's younger sister not a lot seems to have changed for D.</p>
<p>She's still too busy to talk because she is always studying. When she is not preparing for a </p>
<p>class she is managing to take advantage of some of Yale's great extracurriculars and </p>
<p>events. D has also mentioned that Yale feels very competitive despite what some of the</p>
<p>Yale posters mentioned last year.</p>
<p>Our CT limo driver drove way too fast and swerved in and out of traffic with constant </p>
<p>slamming on the brakes and 2 near accidents. No one else on board the (van) seemed to </p>
<p>be bothered quite as much by the trip though.</p>
<p>Let's just say it was so bad for me coming into New Haven that I rented a car and braved </p>
<p>the return trip into NYC by myself. </p>
<p>Metro North seems like a good option.</p>
<p>Thank you for asking, wjb,
I like to believe that D1 is thriving. I have been restraining myself not to get too close to her details unless she offers information voluntarily. She is like a bird out of cage, eager to see how far she can fly. Naturally, she already ventured into New Yolk city through Metro North and more. After that experience, flying to and from New Yolk city becomes a valid option for her holiday airplane tickets.
She is fully loaded with classes (taking 5 credits right now) and a few ECs. I am waiting to see whether she is going to drop some class(s) around mid term, because I feel the load is too heavy. She and I had a brief chat today and she said life is good.</p>
<p>S flew into/out BDL and took Connecticut Limo several times during his freshman year, but lately has been flying in/out of LGA because the flights are less expensive. He has had no problem negotiating the Metro North/bus connections. This summer we also took Metro North from Grand Central ourselves--it was easy, convenient, and less expensive than Connecticut Limo.</p>
<p>Sorry, double posting</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Welcome to any H parents peeking in!<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Thanks. Harvard parent here. D1 just graduated from H in June, and D2 is applying now. But she is also applying to Yale as well, so I thought I better come over and take a look. Not that I hold out a lot of hope. Yale never accepts kids from our local high school. The two or three kids every year get into some combination of HPSM, but never within the living memory of the high school has any kid been accepted by Y. Too bad. I think it's a terrific school.</p>
<p>Welcome, coureur. Our local public HS has had similar bad luck, but with Princeton; several kids get into some combination of HYSM each year, but the last Princeton admission was back in 2003. At some point the bad luck streak is bound to be broken at your D's HS. Might as well be her, right? ;)</p>
<p>^ wowwwww our school has bad luck with Penn :(</p>
<p>no one has gotten in for the past 6 years :(</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>At some point the bad luck streak is bound to be broken at your D's HS. Might as well be her, right? <<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>That's what she's thinking. She's giving it a shot.</p>
<p>I think it's more than bad luck. Kids from our school have been shut out of Yale for decades - far longer than can be accounted for by simple random bad luck. I think the school somehow never made it on to the list of high schools in this area that Yale takes seriously.</p>
<p>hi everyone. Freshman D is loving Yale. Loves her classes, great suitemate's, 4-5 ECs and a campus job. She seems to be managing her time well, but of course we think she might be overloaded. We think she couldn't wait to break free of our small hometown. Yale seems to be everything she hoped it would be.</p>
<p>^^ OK, daughter loves everything except a recent mouse infestation. Anyone else having this issue, or just her? Advice: send sturdy plastic containers for snacks (or bring during parents weekend.) Hopefully Harvard and Princeton students also have mice, so we won't lose points for this. :)</p>
<p>rr, this has been a problem for a while. The following is from an article in the YDN from 2007:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Current or past residents of Farnam, Lanman-Wright, McClellan and Welch halls and Davenport and Branford colleges said they have experienced recurring mouse problems...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yale</a> Daily News - Mice, pests scurry through dorms</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, Booklady. This article doesn't make it sound as though Facilities is very effective in pest control. I'll bring mouse traps next week. Luckily, D1 has had pet mice and thinks they're kind of cute. Not sure about room mate.</p>
<p>They brought her a batch of mouse poison. There have been other sitings on Old Campus this week. We'll be bringing her some traps as part of our Parents Weekend visit. DH is missing a hunting trip, so maybe this will be a good replacement activity.</p>
<p>It's cute, kind of like "Enchanted". Riverrunner, I will let DH know to get traps when he visits D. Great activity, father/daughter bonding!</p>